The slave witch from South America. Tituba of Salem and her family were brought from Barbados to the United States. Tituba was captured at a young age and bought by Samuel Perris which later was brought to Boston Massachusetts in the late 1600’s. She became a servant for Samuel Perris and his family. “In November of 1689, Samuel Parris moved Tituba and his family to Salem after he was appointed the new minister of Salem Village” (Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, Tituba The Witch of Salem). People used to confuse Tituba with half Indian American and African, but the truth is that her race was unknown. No one knew where was she original from since she was captured and brought to Barbados then moved to Boston when she was later sold as a slave. During …show more content…
She was one of many other woman accused of practicing Voodoo.” Over a decade later, Tituba was one of the first women to be accused of witchcraft during the hysteria of 1692” (Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, Tituba the Witch of Salem). Tituba was one of many other accusations against woman practicing witchcraft in the United States. The reason why people started calling her a witch was because she practiced Voodoo and was reading people’s hands to find their fortune. A couple days later Samuel’s daughter and nice started feeling a little weird which made him think that Tituba had something to do with what was happening to the little girls. Tituba try to help or at least acted like she was helping Samuel’s daughter and niece by fining who had done something to them. “Tituba and her husband John helped a neighbor named Mary Sibley bake a witch cake, a cake made from rye meal and the afflicted girl’s urine, and fed it to a dog hoping it would reveal the name of whoever bewitched the girls” (Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, Tituba the Witch of Salem). Such help made Samuel and others assumed even more that Tituba was the person responsible for
In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, a group of young women began to display erratic and unusual mental and physical behaviour. The manifestation of the unfamiliar symptoms, and Puritan 17th century ideology, initiated a yearning for rationalization for the behaviour. Therefore to explain their behaviour the young women accused the slave woman Tituba of practicing witchcraft and afflicting them. Thus began the Salem Witch Trials.
The Puritans said that Tituba practices what they called black magic; but it was the deceitful Abigail who influenced Tituba into practicing the black arts whenever it suited herself and her evil deeds. Tituba acknowledges her sins, but we never knew what happened to her in the story. This uncertainty of her destiny emphasizes whether she was a witch or not.
When two girls, aged 9 and 11, started having strange and peculiar fits, the Puritans believed that the cause of these actions was the work of the devil. The children accused three women of afflicting them: Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. Tituba was a Caribbean slave owned by the Parris family. Sarah Good is a homeless woman. Sarah Osborne was a poor elderly woman.
	During the winter of 1691 and 1692 Salem Village had a mass hysteria over the possibility of witchcraft in their village. The movie shows this was brought on after Reverend Parris discovered some girls dancing in the woods. A black slave known as Tituba supposedly led the rite. Tituba was really American Indian Arawak in history though. Of course the village believed the girls were practicing magic but it may have been a result of the girls eating some moldy wheat. The girls suffered from violent fits.
In order to avoid charges, Abigail deflects the blame onto Tituba, the family servant, by saying that she forced her to drink blood. After realizing that the town might hang her for her crimes, Tituba confesses to witchcraft and accuses the low-class women of Salem, hoping that it might lighten her punishment. The town quickly breaks into hysteria as Mary is pulled into the center of the drama and the authorities ask her to testify against the accused. Realizing that her life is still under threat of Abigail if she doesn't do what Abigail asks of her, Mary lies on stand, ensuring her safety, as well as the death of two innocent women. Overwhelmed with culpability, Mary attempts to justify her
Crops failure, dying livestock, strange illnesses, or injuries were often believed to be the result of a spell cast by a witch or a neighbor practicing witchcraft in retaliation resulting from an argument over land boundaries, an unpaid favor, or other insignificant civil matters. “Witches” were accused of “pricking, pinching, or choking” their accusers without actually being physically present or “appearing as an apparition” as in the case of Elizabeth Hubbard against Tituba Indian (Godbeer 90). Men, women, and children were accused of being witches; however, women were more often the accused. Any sarcastic remark or spiteful comment said in private, public, or social circles, would sometimes manifest into an accusation of a spell or curse cast upon an unsuspecting
Many young girls were in the woods trying to conjure spirits. Tituba was trying to teach them how to do so (Blumberg). Witchcraft was punishable by death, and these young girls were trying to avoid being caught(miller). They were falsely accusing many people so they would not be accused of witchcraft(miller). Several innocent people died during this time
Miller touched on the subject of racism and related it to the present time with his characterization of the woman, Tituba. Historically, Tituba was a native woman; however, in the story she was portrayed as a black woman. Tituba was a servant of Reverend Parris and one of the first to be accused of witchcraft. She was an easy target because she was a minority and did not have a lot. Her different culture made her stick out, which caused people to surmise that she was a witch.
They want slaves, not such as I. Let them send to Barbados for any of them!"(24). Abigail's first victim in her accusation spree was Tituba. Tituba was an easy first target because she is a slave and practices voodoo, both things combined make her the easiest target in Salem. Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear her laughing in my sleep.
As the story of Tituba unfolds, it reveals a strong and kind hearted young woman, very different from the Tituba we meet in The Crucible. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem unveils for the reader, Tituba's life, loves, and losses. Her long and arduous journey through life is inspired by her many female counterparts, yet also hindered by her insatiable weakness for men, who also press upon her the realities of life.
In Maryse Condé novel, I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, Tituba is the victim of the spread of colonial ideology. Colonial ideology is established early in the novel and plays a role throughout. Colonial ideology is the reason Tituba is a slave to white men throughout the play. Colonial ideology is the reason why Tituba’s opinion is considered irrelevant by other characters in the play. Tituba’s life is filled with lost, misery, and disappointment because of the ideology shared by other characters in the novel. The spread of colonial ideology leads to Tituba’s low role in every society she lives in during her life.
The Salem Witch Trials occurred because “three women were out in jail, because of witchcraft, and then paranoia spread throughout Salem” (Blumberg). In the Salem Village, “Betty Paris became sick, on February of 1692, and she contorted in pain and complained of fever” (Linder). The conspiracy of “witchcraft increased when play mates of Betty, Ann Putnam, Mercy, and Mary began to exhibit the same unusual behavior” (Linder). “The first to be accused were Tituba, a Barbados slave who was thought to have cursed the girls, Sarah Good, a beggar and social misfit, and Sarah Osborn, an old lady that hadn’t attended church in a year” (Linder). According to Linder, Tituba was the first to admit to being a witch, saying that she signed Satan’s book to work for him. The judges, Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, “executed Giles Corey because he refused to stand trial and afterwards eight more people were executed and that ended the Witch Trials in Salem”
The Salem witch trials began in 1692, and lasted less than a year. The first arrests were made on March 1, 1692 and the final hanging day was September 22, 1692. The first noted arrest, was of Tituba, a Caribbean Indian from Barbados. She was Reverend Samuel Parris' slave. Her role in the witch trials includes the arrest and confession of witchcraft on March 1, 1692.
In 1692 everyone was sure that the Devil had come to Salem when young girls started screaming, barking like dogs and doing strange dances in the woods. The Salem Witch Trials originated in the home of Salem's reverend Samuel Parris, who had a slave from the Caribbean named Tibuta. Tibuta would tell stories about witchcraft back from her home. In early 1692 several of Salem's teenage girls began gathering in the kitchen with Tibuta. When winter turned to spring many Salem residents were stunned at the acts and behaviors of Tibuta's young followers. It was said that in the woods nearby they danced a black magic dance, and several of the girls would fall on the floor screaming uncontrollably. These behaviors soon began to spread across Salem. This soon led to ministers from nearby communities coming to Salem to lend their advice on the matter. Many believed that the girls were bewitched. It is believed that the young girls accusations began the Salem witch trials, and they would gather at reverend Parris's house to play fortune-telling games with magic and with Tibuta. One of the games was for them to crack a raw egg into a glass of water and see what shape it made in the glass.
After Tituba admitted to being a witch and said that she and four other witches “had flown through the air on their poles” (Linder), panic swept through Salem, and the pursuit of witches expanded (Linder) (Brattle) (Brooks).